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tor, also have under lease for opera- tion the Illinois Central railroad’s ele- yators D and E at Stuyvesant docks. These two elevators have a storage ca- pacity of 2,500,000 bushels. The board thus operate a total storage capacity of 5,122,000 bushels. There aré seven loading berths at the Stuyvestant elevators, siihat with the three at the public elevator, the board actually have berths at which ten ves- sels may be loading cargoes of grain simultaneously. ‘These ten berths are equivalent to the total number of grain loading berths at all other Gulf ports combined. Methods and mechanism for storage and conveying are of the usual modern standards, and grain is carried from the bins to the spouts, or into the bins from the marine leg, by rubber belts. All mechanism at the public grain ele- vator is electrically actuated and con- trolled and the delivering capacity can be varied from 25,000 to 100,000 bush- els an hour, delivered either to one steamer or to three steamers, it being possible to accommodate the spouts to service on a single steamer with the full delivery capacity. At the Stuyves- ant docks the delivery capacity is 20,- 000 bushels an hour to each of seven steamship berths—140,000 bushels an hour if delivered to seven steamships. The combined delivery capacity of the public operated elevators is, therefore, 240,000 bushels an hour to eight or ten steamships loading bulk grain. Car storage capacity in the public grain elevator yard will accomodate approximately 800 cars of grain; that at the Stuyvesant dock approximately 1000 cars. The unloading tracks at the public grain elevator are ideally laid out, four tracks entering the unloading shed with a capacity of twenty cars each, ahead of the unloading, with an unlimited storage capacity beyond, so that there is never any delay in un- loading. The biggest record turn-over of grain at the public grain elevator is 788,000 bushels in-and-out for a single day. The largest cargo of wheat ever load- ed from this elevator was 501,000 bush- els on the Dutch S. S. Tysrpesar, in January, 1925—the largest ever moved from the Gulf and the second largest from any port of the United States. Operating offices are located at the Plant and matters pertaining to opera- tion are handled there on the grounds through well equipped buildings which are furnished with all modern conve- miences. The central building of this administrative plant contains the su- berintendent’s office and the desks of his clerical staff. The grain laboratory ‘onnecting with this central office by a beautified pathway is one of the best quipped laboratories in the United States. Al] grain arriving at the ele- Vator is immediately inspected and sraded at this building and in the elevator, and from reports on these in- Sections, consignees are informed Promptly concerning each shipment. Launch Ferry Knickerbocker at Staten Island Plant built for the Department of Plant and Structures, New York City was launched Sept. 1, at the Staten Island plant of United Dry Docks Inc. Mrs. William H. Walker, sister-in-law of Mayor Walker, acted as sponsor. The launching was under the supervi- sion of Albert Goldman, commission of plant and structures. The new ves- sel represents a high point in ferry- boat design and construction and em- bodies a number of improvements with respect to strength, safety and other essentials. The KNICKERBOCKER is a _ double ended steel, oil burning vessel fitted with all modern safety appliances. The dimensions are as follows: T HE new ferryboat Kn1cKERBOCKER, Length over alls... 267 ft. 0 in. Breadth over guards.... 68 ft. 0 in. Breadth of hull molded 46 ft. 0 in. Depth of hull molded at side amidships...... 19 ft. 9% in. Drart WOadeth i ccissenccccas 14 ft. 9 in. Displacement loaded.... 1785 tons SS RU ovscsscucsunasvenalsnerseass 18 miles per hour Two decks are provided with pas- senger accommodations on each and affording seating capacity for 1700. In addition, there are two gangways for the accommodation of 32 vehicles. The ferryboat is built to class 100 A-1 Amer- ican Bureau of Shipping. Robert W. Morrell was the naval architect. The contract was awarded in _ December 1930 at a price of $941,000 and was originally scheduled for completion in October 1931. The main engines are two vertical direct acting two cylinder compound surface condensing engines 22% x 50 ' x 80 inches, developing 4000 horse- power. They were built by United " tseme « phe thy Ce ghee Me sul & # ¥ Municipal F Drydocks Ine. These engines derive steam from four Babcock & Wilcox sectional marine watertube boilers of 8577 square feet of heating surface, burning oil as fuel. Auxiliary pumps were supplied by the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corp. The vessel is equipped with two steering engines furnished by the Hyde Windlass Co. The two propellers were supplied by the General Steel Castings Co. Todd Dry Dock & Engineering Co. furnished the oil burning equipment. The elec- tric generators were built by the Gen- eral Electric Co. Notable additions have been made to the New York City municipal ferry lines operated by the Department of Plant and Structures. Since Jan. 1, 1926 eleven new ferries have been placed in operation on ferry lines and in the institutional service, replacing four old ferries and three institutional boats which had been in use a number of years. Additions to the municipal fleet have been made necessary by the heavy increase in traffic. The KNICKERBOCKER is a sistership of the DoNGAN HiLts and the THomp- KINSVILLE, all three vessels being prac- tically identical. - Virgin Islands Shipping President Hoover by proclamation September 3 deferred the extension of coastwise shipping laws to the Virgin islands from Sept. 30, 1931 to Sept. 30, 1932, declaring that such extension is dependent upon estab- lishment of an adequate shipping service with the islands. This is the fourteenth time the extension has been deferred since the enactment of the merchant marine act of 1920. i ‘ i ¥ nt of United Dry orryvoat Knickerbocker, Built at Staten Island Plant _ : backs Inc. for Department of Plant and Structures New York City. Launched Sept. 1 MARINE Review-—October, 1931 29